A Man's Wish and a Child's Dream
by Oilesru Zeravla
Summary: Naruto would only like to stop time and spare himself the pain of watching his students die.


He sat at the riverbank, both feet submerged into the cool, flowing water. Konohamaru yelled something like "Sensei" or "Bother", and Narutos' ears twitched lightly as he heard the sounds of rushed footsteps coming for him. Udon swiftly sat beside Naruto, glasses hanging low as usual. Moegi sat at his other side with no shoes; she submerged her own feet into the softly moving river. Konohamaru launched himself on top of Narutos' head, lowering Narutos' headband to eye level. Udon and Konohamaru laughed, Moegi giggled. Naruto laughed a new hearty laugh, full of life and joy, had the third ever seen him now, he'd say that he looked just like his father.

"Sensei?"

"Yeah, Udon?"

"When will we be going on our next mission?"

Naruto held his breath for a second, and released it. It came out as a sort of sigh blended in with an exasperated jolt of inhaling air. He looked for words to use as Moegi, Udon, and Konohamaru looked at him tentatively.

"Tomorrow then, if you're so eager."

Konohamaru stopped leaning against his teachers' head and for a minute looked like a younger Naruto. He was jumping in energetic youth. Konohamaru then noticed his teachers plastered body on the floor, looking at him, smiling, and he smiled back, and in the same audacity he had always had, even towards his grandfather, a Hokage, he asked…

"Naruto…Why'd you choose to be our sensei?"

"Konohamaru…Why do you ask?"

"Well with you being Hokage and all…"

Naruto once again breathed heavily at these attacks in the forms of questions. He played with words and things previous Hokages had said, he decided and thought maybe it was time to give them an answer, or, well, part of it.

"…Well I'd say something corny and cliché like: "I am Hokage, but I am also a teacher, and as Hokage I must teach others, therefore you are mine to teach as a sensei." But I dare to say otherwise. Sure, its true, as Hokage and a teacher, you and the village, both, are mine to teach and protect, but I didn't choose you mainly because of that…my cliché of an excuse is something more along the lines of: "Because I love you and I wish to spend time with you", it's…as simple as that."

Konohamaru smiled a broad toothy smile, no more sockets for a permanent tooth to grow in. Udon pushed up his glasses as he did so many times when happiness held its' position in his heart, and Moegi simply smiled in her Sakura-esque pose.

Naruto reached into his pocket and brought out a familiar book he had adopted from spending so much time with an avid reader, and its' writer. He not so much as read it for entertainment, but, maybe in some twisted way, out of the memories that lingered on in those books, and maybe some tears welled up in Narutos' eyes.

He hadn't told them the entire truth. He actually wanted to say that they, as a new "Team 7", reminded him of his own. He felt at home with the very thought of Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi – Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Why had he chosen to train them? He loved them, just as much as he loved his team. He even tried to fight back tears when Konohamaru screwed up on a mission and Moegi scolded him for it, while Udon plainly watched them quarrel. He fished with them, told them stories, bought them food, and even told them about how he had once seen Kakashi without his mask, eating; handsome too, just a waste of curiosity; he held no secrets beneath it. Naruto, even once told them, about his team, but that was rare and far between. Naruto would just…have fun. He liked it and so did they. He loved them and they did him. Mission or not, Naruto always held a smile on his face and it never seemed to fade or melt away.

Naruto never really liked giving Team 7 missions, much less train them. He always thought that maybe if he kept them at the Gennin level they wouldn't have to end up dying like so many did in his class, maybe he wouldn't have to make them suffer like he did. They were innocent, and he wanted it that way…

"When are we going to train Naruto-sensei?"

He thought over it. Moegi just asked a killer question, one he had so many times wanted to avoid. In fact, now that he mulled over it, his team was just about confronting him with every single thing he had wanted to avoid. He had always thought that maybe he could keep them the way they were, but now as Moegi, Udon, and Konohamaru stared at him wide-eyed, half-expecting an answer – one they knew, either way, would be given – Naruto opened his mouth to speak slowly moving, coherent words.

"…Tomorrow…"

The team smiled wide smiles. Picture perfect, really. Naruto would always want to keep them young, but he forgets one detail, they're…young.

Tomorrow they would train as well as go on missions. The next day it would be the same, and he would always remember, it would've been insufferable if anybody had ever taken away his dream to advance as a shinobi. He felt that he would need to apply that to the new "Team 7" as well. He would stand and fight by their sides, and train them, and joke with them, and eat. He would simply bring them the dreams that any shinobi child could desire, would desire, _should_ desire. Naruto would teach them as a sensei, and protect them as Hokage.


End file.
